In this paper we present the main data issues that were confronted when the first wave of the National Income Dynamics Study (NIDS) 2008 was adapted for use as the micro-data underlying a recently developed static tax-benefit micro-simulation model for South Africa (SAMOD). NIDS is the first national household panel survey in South Africa. SAMOD V1.1, which is based on the EUROMOD platform, was initially underpinned by a dataset derived primarily from the South African Income and Expenditure Survey 2000 but additionally drew on data from several other national surveys. As the NIDS questionnaire is more comprehensive in scope than the IES by, for example, containing questions about intra-household relationships - it is better suited for determining eligibility for some of the existing social assistance arrangements such as the child support grant.

This paper is divided into two main parts. The first part focuses on the quality of education across the school system. Attention is drawn to the low level of cognitive achievement demonstrated by many South African children, and to how widely this varies on the basis of socio-economic status and between the historically different sections of the school system. Given how early these educational inequalities are manifested, this research paper suggests that policy interventions should be implemented early in primary school, inpre-school, and even during the Early Childhood Development (ECD) phase. Several large-scale sample surveys of educational achievement in South African schools are analysed, and a number of suggestions about specific school and teaching practices that appear to be linked to better learner achievement, even after the negative impact of poverty, have been made.The second part of this research paper examines the impact of low quality teaching and learning on performance in the labour market. This research paper suggests that income inequality in South Africa is being driven by differences in the level, and more importantly the quality of education people attain. Policies that address income inequality by intervening directly in the labour market will have limited success as long as these inequalities in education persist.

This brief is based on a working paper by Gideon du Rand, Hendrik van Broekhuizen and Dieter von Fintel, which uses the 2008 National Income Dynamics Survey (NIDS), containing detailed information about household welfare and individual labour market characteristics. Importantly, the survey captured the results of an optional numeracy test completed by a subset of respondents, as well as information on their schools’ historical Matric examination performance. The original paper can be found at: http://www.ekon.sun.ac.za/wpapers/2011

This paper draws on a broad range of data collected through surveys, participant observation, and interviews conducted between 2002 and 2010. It relies on research conducted during 2010 in four municipalities: the Merafong City Local Municipality, the Mossel Bay Local Municipality, the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality and the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality.

It is popular to assume that poorer primary school learners struggle to perform due to their socio-economic status and the resultant lack of access to good school resources and teachers. Still, children in South African primary schools underperform compared to their counterparts in other Southern- and East African countries, in spite of benefiting from better access to resources, more qualified teachers and lower pupil-to-teacher ratios. Are there other factors at play, which preclude South African primary schools from making the best use of their resources? A recent paper looks at the performance of primary school learners in standardised literacy and numeracy tests. It concludes that although socio-economic status and access to good resources both play a role in educational outcomes, an improvement in either of those areas is meaningless If schools aren’t managed efficiently. This underlines the case for prioritising policies aimed at improving managerial practices in primary schools.

This report summarizes the initial findings of the National Income Dynamics Survey (NIDS) regarding social assistance grants in South Africa. A comparison to various other data sources is also included in order to highlight any shortfalls or strengths in the NIDS data in comparison to previous surveys.

In this discussion paper, we will first discuss the potential role that can be played by agricultural production and by government support for this sector. We will then note methodological decisions concerning weighting and the selection of variables that have been used. We then go onto discuss data contained in the Adult Questionnaire which can be used to show the demographic profile of those who are employed in informal or subsistence agriculture. The information in the household questionnaire is then discussed and these data are combined in a preliminary analysis of the outcomes from agricultural production on household well-being. We end by noting some data quality concerns and make suggestions for amendments to the Wave 2 questionnaire.

The main objective of this paper is to provide an overview of the findings from the first wave of NIDS in terms of access to household services and assets. A secondary objective is to provide a comparison of the results from NIDS with those from comparable household surveys. At the time of writing, the 2008 General Household Survey (GHS) has not yet been released and the results from NIDS are therefore compared with findings from the 2006 and 2007 GHS. The GHS is a nationally representative household survey conducted annually since 2002 by Statistics South Africa. The aim of this survey is to capture information on living conditions of South African households in order to evaluate government programmes and projects. The survey covers education, health, the labour market, housing and household access to services and facilities, as well as household assets.

This report provides a very brief overview of the 2008 data from the National Income Dynamics Study (NIDS) for conducting intergenerational mobility research on education, occupation and income. It then goes on to undertake a preliminary analysis of intergenerational educational and occupational mobility as well as a cursory look at income mobility for co-residing parents and children.